Whilst in Spain, there was an opportunity to check out a football match. Valencia vs Mallorca was the occasion, both teams that Arsenal have played in the Champions League over the last 10 years. Although, this season, both are pretty far from qualifying for it again. Both sat firmly in mid table before this game, and given how tight the Spanish league is this season, that meant 6 or 7 points from both the UEFA Cup and the relegation places.By their standards, Valencia had had a bad season so far. Proud owners of the worst home record in La Liga, they had suffered managerial changes, a disastrous Champions League exit from a group that they should have qualified from, and generally poor results all round. Despite a recent mini revival, which included reaching the Cup Final by beating Barcelona in the semis, and Valencia amazingly beating Real Madrid in the Bernabeu last week, the season has been crap. Which meant that tickets were nice and easy to come by, costing only €15 each, for a very decent view behind the goal.
As the game kicked off, the Valencia fans unfurled a massive flag behind one of the goals, the Gol Gran. It had the number 12 on it, presumably implying the 12th Man, but support in general seemed to be rather lacking for this game. As a football match it was awful, devoid of any passion, energy, or even the sense that any of the participating players, or watching fans, gave a toss about the outcome. Valencia were utterly pedestrian, and Mallorca were soon 2-0 up thanks to some well-taken chances. David Villa looked good for Valencia until he just walked down the tunnel after an hour (we later found out that he had injured himself, but it was an utterly bizarre departure - nobody on the bench even batted an eyelid as he walked past them). But overall, the game was boring - I would even rather watch Wigan vs Bolton than that - at least the players look like they care.Talking of Wigan and Bolton, one thing that did strike me was the competence with which both teams passed the ball around on the ground. It was a bad game, played by 2 mid table Spanish league sides that are going nowhere - but the passing was better than the English national team can usually manage. Of course, they didn't run around quite as much, and the whole game was very much slower, which is sure to help. But the passing was good to watch, even if it rarely got either team anywhere.
As the game drew on, Valencia's team seemed to even give up pretending to their fans that they were trying, or that they cared. By the end, literally nobody in the stadium seemed to care what was happening on the pitch, least of all the players. As Valencia half heartedly pushed forward in search of a consolation goal that they didn't deserve, and never looked like getting, their fans started openly mocking their players' efforts - breaking into laughter after a particularly inept attempt at a free kick in front of goal. As is Spanish tradition in circumstances like this, the white hankies came out, and the whistling started. It was hard to argue, so poor was the game, and the home team's performance.This was an interesting game in one respect, just to go and see the contrast between the Spanish and English leagues. Not a great advert for Spanish football (which I often find quite boring anyway), but then a mid table, end of season clash is unlikely to be I suppose. The fact that the stadium was nowhere near full, and cheap and easy to get into was also a reflection of the importance of the game - the previous day's game at Villarreal was sold out at higher ticket prices, because it mattered much more. Valencia are moving from the antique Mestalla, with its high stands, and no facilities, to a new 80,000 capacity stadium in the next couple of years. This is a ground like Highbury was in its last days - full of tradition and history. Sadly, Valencia don't currently play the football to match - they looked like a poor shadow of the team that got to 2 successive Champions League finals, not so long ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment